"According to the apple a day - and the doctor does not need" - says one of the sayings. And it is true. An Apple - a storehouse of vitamins and a favorite fruit of many people. No wonder that the first feeding of babies begins with a green apple.
What do you want sometimes in the winter to try fresh apple compote or treat yourself to apple pie. Is it possible to freeze apples in the freezer? And is there any benefit from frozen fruit? AND what secrets you need to know when freezing fresh apples?
Can I freeze apples for the winter? It often happens that autumn was rich in harvest, and there is a desire make a stock of fruit for the year ahead. But there is a danger that if improperly treated with cold, the fruit is simply spoil.
Do apples and pears freeze? Frost a few apples different from freezing berriestherefore, subject to all technologies, autumn fruits will be stored in the freezer for a year.
Fundamental rules
The most important thing is large freezerIn this case, the fruits will retain all the vitamins and nutrients to the full.
Is it possible to freeze apples in the freezer? With weak cooling ability it will not be possible to make the necessary preparations for a long time.
Frozen apples must be ripe, intact.
When freezing overripe, rotted fruit, it is likely that after thawing, they turn into unappetizing mashed potatoes. Preference should be given to apples recently harvested, because the less time has passed from the moment of harvest to processing, the better.
About the benefits
Is it possible to freeze apples for the winter? Which one benefit from them? Charlotte, apple pies, strudel, compote, various desserts and much more - all this will be available for cooking at any time of the year. Everything clean, eco-friendly and already sliced.
Can I freeze apples and pears for the winter and why? By the end of winter, many fresh fruits lose almost all the vitamins, so frozen fruits make it possible in the spring maintain immunity.
Ways of cutting
How best to freeze slices, whole apples or another way? You can freeze like whole fruitso and slices. It can even freeze apple sauce. When frozen in slices, apples are cut.
In this case, the shape can be any: slices, slices, pieces, circles. Removing the rind, stem and seeds is a matter of taste for every housewife. It all depends on the purpose for which the preparation is made.
If for pies and compotes - quite peel presence is acceptable, then for fruit sauces, casseroles and similar dishes it is better, of course, to do without peel.
Everyone knows this property of apples, as darkening after cutting, but this can be avoided.
Must be prepared in advance solution (1 liter of water + 5 g of citric acid).
After slicing, immerse the slices for no more than 20 minutes in this composition, which save them from darkening. You can freeze as soon as apples, and mix them with various berries and fruits.
Required temperature
How to freeze fresh apples at home? At what temperature can I freeze apples for winter? There are several ways to freeze: dry and so-called shock.
Dry - Fruits spread on trays and sent to the freezer. Temperature range not less than -23 ° C. 2-3 hours after freezing, the apples are laid out in a container. After that, frozen pieces can be stored already in a conventional freezer at a temperature of at least -18 ° C.
Shock freezing - This is an ultra-fast freezing of apples in bags. To do this, in the mode of operation of the freezer, you must put the "quick freeze".
The shelf life of frozen apples
How long can you store apples in the freezer? With proper observance of all rules, frozen apples can be stored in the freezer up to 12 months, keeping all your properties.
It should be remembered that re-freezing is prohibited.
Freezing methods
What are the ways to freeze apples for winter at home? There are several methods of freezing apples.
Slices
Apples cut into slices, remove the seeds and the stalk (but can be frozen with seeds).
Arrange sliced apples on dry chopping boards or trays.
Slices should not touch each other and lay on one layer. And immediately put it all in the freezer.
After 2-3 hours, you can start packing. Carefully removed slices are laid out in plastic bags or containers in small portions.
When packing in a bag, make sure that less air is inside. If the packaging takes place in plastic containers, then they are correct. very tight closeto avoid ingress of air and moisture inside.
In sugar syrup
Cook syrup (750 g of water mixed with 450 g of sugar and 1500 mg of ascorbic acid). Apples cut into slices, dipped in cold syrup for a day. After that, slice the pieces blanched (boiled over with boiling water), put on the pans and cool in the freezer.
After decomposing into packages, with minimum amount of air. Apples thus prepared have the flavor of baked apples and are a good dessert.
Preparation of mashed potatoes
Peel apples, chop, sugar, you can not add, cook for 15 - 20 minutes on low heat. Cool, chop blender, pour into plastic containers or cans. So, the ready pie filling is always in the fridge.
Whole freeze
To do this, rinse and dry the apple. Special knife neatly core remove.
Immerse the fruit in a specially prepared solution ascorbic acid (50 g of water + 1500 g of acid) for a few minutes.
After that, put an apple in a special freezer bagby pre-releasing air from there.
An apple frozen in this way can lie in the freezer for half a year, preserving all its useful qualities. Such fruits are used in cooking for dishes such as apples in dough or whole apples baked with sugar.
Of course, frozen fruits save a lot of time for any hostess, so you should definitely take some time in the fall to enjoy practically fresh apples before the new harvest.
If you want to learn about other ways of storing apples for the winter, you can read our articles on drying, drying and how to keep the crop fresh at home or in the cellar, and you will also be interested to know about the storage characteristics of dried apples.
